Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, inhabiting, or growing in mountainous regions just below the timberline.
  • adjective Of or relating to regions at or near the foot of the Alps.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Living or growing on mountains at an elevation next below the height called alpine.
  • Lower Alpine: applied to that part or zone of the Alps which lies between the so-called “highland” zone and the “Alpine” zone proper.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Bot. & Zoöl.) Inhabiting the somewhat high slopes and summits of mountains, but considerably below the snow line.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective At the foot of the Alps
  • adjective At or just below the tree-line

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective growing at high altitudes

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Larix lyallii, or alpine larch (sometimes called subalpine larch).

    Museum Blogs 2010

  • It is dominated by tree species that thrive in cool, humid climates with heavy snow cover, such as subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce.

    Ecoregions of Utah (EPA) 2009

  • Spruce bark beetles were after the spruce trees and fir engraver beetles were killing subalpine fir trees.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • Winter snowfall accumulates as a snowpack and the high elevation Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir and limber pine forests provide an essential cover so that the snow melts slowly in the springtime and feeds the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River which drains one tenth of the land base in the lower 48 states.

    Dr. Reese Halter: Global Warming, Drought and the Grim Reaper Dr. Reese Halter 2010

  • Above the tree line at about 2,600 m, the vegetation is subalpine.

    Kahuzi-Biéga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo 2009

  • Spruce bark beetles were after the spruce trees and fir engraver beetles were killing subalpine fir trees.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • Spruce bark beetles were after the spruce trees and fir engraver beetles were killing subalpine fir trees.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • Winter snowfall accumulates as a snowpack and the high elevation Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir and limber pine forests provide an essential cover so that the snow melts slowly in the springtime and feeds the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River which drains one tenth of the land base in the lower 48 states.

    Dr. Reese Halter: Global Warming, Drought and the Grim Reaper Dr. Reese Halter 2010

  • Spruce bark beetles were after the spruce trees and fir engraver beetles were killing subalpine fir trees.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • Winter snowfall accumulates as a snowpack and the high elevation Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir and limber pine forests provide an essential cover so that the snow melts slowly in the springtime and feeds the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River which drains one tenth of the land base in the lower 48 states.

    Dr. Reese Halter: Global Warming, Drought and the Grim Reaper Dr. Reese Halter 2010

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